{"id":99067,"date":"2025-10-23T10:56:22","date_gmt":"2025-10-23T10:56:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/99067\/"},"modified":"2025-10-23T10:56:22","modified_gmt":"2025-10-23T10:56:22","slug":"vintage-tractor-raises-80k-for-new-cambridge-childrens-hospital","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/99067\/","title":{"rendered":"Vintage tractor raises \u00a380k for new Cambridge Children’s Hospital"},"content":{"rendered":"

A vintage tractor has helped raise more than \u00a380,000 for a playroom at a new children’s hospital.<\/p>\n

The fully restored 1963 Fordson Super Dexta tractor sold for \u00a340,280 at the Cheffins vintage sale in Cambridge on Saturday.<\/p>\n

Nick Hedges, a 67-year-old farmer from Kent, said he bought the tractor for his “tractor mad” grandson who was almost two years old.<\/p>\n

Auctioneer Cheffins matched the amount the tractor sold for and pledged the cash to the Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust to go towards Cambridge Children’s Hospital<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Fordson Super Dexta was bought by Cheffins in June 2024 from Lincolnshire and it was restored in Stretham near Ely.<\/p>\n

It was estimated<\/a> to sell for between \u00a320,000 and \u00a330,000.<\/p>\n

Mr Hedges said the tractor was an investment for his grandson and was honoured to be part of the fundraising cause.<\/p>\n

“Addenbrookes have treated a few members of our family, and we do have some connection with the hospital,” he said.<\/p>\n

“The tractor is a real one-off and it’s such a great cause that we really wanted to be a part of.”<\/p>\n

He bought another vintage tractor at the sale, and was looking for a third one so all his grandchildren could have one each. <\/p>\n

Mr Hedges plans to show them at various events in the south of England next year.<\/p>\n

Oliver Godfrey, director and head of the Cheffins machinery division, described the tractor as “something of a star in vintage tractor circles over the past year”.<\/p>\n

“It’s been wonderful to see the enthusiasm it’s generated at shows across the country,” Mr Godfrey continued.<\/p>\n

“There was an electric atmosphere as bidding took off, with at least 10 bidders competing both in person and over the telephone.<\/p>\n

“We are deeply grateful to Mr Hedges for his generous support.<\/p>\n

“Not only has he acquired an important piece of agricultural history, but his purchase will directly benefit children across the region through the new hospital.”<\/p>\n

Once complete, the hospital aims to transform children’s healthcare across Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex. <\/p>\n

Paul White, director of communications and impact at the Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust, said “words can’t express our gratitude”.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A vintage tractor has helped raise more than \u00a380,000 for a playroom at a new children’s hospital. The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":99068,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[103,397,396,61,60],"class_list":{"0":"post-99067","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-healthcare","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-health-care","10":"tag-healthcare","11":"tag-ie","12":"tag-ireland"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99067","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=99067"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99067\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/99068"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=99067"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=99067"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=99067"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}